The Pedro de Saisset Family Collection is primarily comprised of photographs of members of the Pedro de Saisset family from
the 1860s to the 1950s. The collection includes portraits of family members, photographs of the family at their ranch in Alameda
County and their city home in downtown San Jose, and photographs of extended family and friends in various countries. The
collection also includes correspondence between family members and a few pieces of ephemera related to the family.

Background

The de Saisset family was a prominent pioneer family in the San Jose and Santa Clara Valley starting in the late 1800s. Pedro
de Alcantara Brazileiro de Saisset (1829-1902) was a San Jose pioneer, the Honorary Vice-Consul for France and founder of
the Brush Electric Company. Pedro de Saisset was born in Paris, France, the son of Henrietta Josephine Mees (1803-1864) and
Dom Pedro I of Brazil (1798-1834), Emperor of Brazil. Raised as the son of Pierre Joseph Felix de Saisset, "Officier de la
Legion d'Honneaur" and Colonel of the French National Guard under Louis Phillip, Pedro de Saisset grew up within an old aristocratic
family of France with a strong history of prominent military service including his step-uncle Admiral Jean Marie Joseph Theodore
and a step-brother Captaine de Frigate Pierre Joseph Ernest de Saisset (1828-1891).

Extent

3 boxes (1.5 cubic feet)

Restrictions

Neither the original photographs nor the digital images in the catalog may be reproduced, published, or used on the Internet
without the expressed, written permission of either the Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History. The credit line, "Courtesy
of Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History," should accompany any such use.